🌱✗ Tested and false“Beetroot bolts if it gets cold early on”
Beetroot bolts in response to a cold spell only if the plants were already stressed or sown too early. Sowing from March onwards is advised, and bolt-resistant varieties are available. The primary bolting trigger is a check to growth, and cold alone on a well-grown plant does not reliably cause it.
What to do: Sow from mid-March onwards rather than pushing for the earliest possible date. Choose a bolt-resistant variety like Boltardy. Thin seedlings early so they do not compete.
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- RHSBolt-resistant varieties available; sow March onwards
“Beetroot is beetroot — any round variety does fine”
Different beetroot varieties suit different purposes. Round, cylindrical and intermediate types are all available, and cylindrical varieties produce longer roots better suited to slicing. Baby beet varieties are bred for harvesting small. Choosing the wrong type for your use is a small mistake with a whole season's consequence.
What to do: Grow round varieties for general use and storage. Grow cylindrical types if you want uniform slices for pickling. Read the packet rather than grabbing any red globe.
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- RHSVarieties include round, cylindrical and intermediate types
“Beetroot leaves are poisonous — only eat the root”
Beetroot leaves are not only edible but a crop in their own right. The leaves can be used like spinach and are rich in nutrients. The confusion may come from rhubarb leaves, which genuinely are toxic, or from the fact that beetroot and chard are closely related and chard is grown specifically for leaves.
Our read A beetroot plant gives you two harvests and most people throw one away. The leaves are perfectly good and the young ones are tender enough for salad.
What to do: Harvest young leaves for salads and larger ones for cooking like spinach. Take a few per plant rather than stripping it, so the root continues to develop.
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- RHSLeaves can be used like spinach; harvest young for salads
“Letting roots dry out then watering heavily makes them split”
An erratic water supply is the main cause of splitting. After a dry spell the roots take up water fast and surge in growth their structure cannot cope with. Excess nitrogen and frost contribute, and a virus spread by willow-carrot aphid can split roots open entirely.
What to do: Aim for steady moisture rather than rescue watering. In a long dry spell give a proper soaking every fortnight instead of frequent light watering, and build the soil's water-holding capacity with well-rotted organic matter over time.
In Scotland: Our problem is usually the reverse of England's: a wet spell after a dry one is the classic Scottish splitting trigger, and there is not much to be done about the rain except keep the soil evenly moist beforehand.
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- RHSErratic water supply is the main cause; nitrogen, frost and aphid-borne virus also implicated
“Soaking beetroot seed in water before sowing helps it germinate better”
Beetroot's seed clusters (each one is actually several seeds fused together) have a hard corky coat that can make germination slow and patchy. Soaking the seed before sowing softens it.
What to do: Soak seed clusters in warm water for about an hour immediately before sowing.
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- RHS — How to grow BeetrootBeetroot seeds can be slow or reluctant to germinate – soaking them in warm water for an hour before sowing should produce better results.
